Myanmar frees many prominent political prisoners

Pyone Cho, an activist of the 88 Generation Students Group, center, joins with his parents upon his arrival at Yangon airport after released from a prison in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signaling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
— AP

Pyone Cho, an activist of the 88 Generation Students Group, center, joins with his parents upon his arrival at Yangon airport after released from a prison in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signaling its readiness to meet Western demands for lifting economic sanctions. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
/ AP

Until this week, even some of Suu Kyi's supporters feared she had sold herself short. Myanmar's most prominent political prisoners had remained behind bars with hardly a sour note struck by Suu Kyi in public. Cease-fire talks had been held between the government and guerrilla groups of various ethnic minorities, which have been fighting for autonomy for decades.

On Thursday the government announced a cease-fire deal with the main ethnic Karen group - the most durable rebel movement - and the prisoner release followed.

The latest moves come just ahead of visits by some U.S. senators influential in foreign affairs, including Mitch McConnell and John McCain.

Human Rights Watch called Friday's release "a crucial development" in promoting human rights in Myanmar but stressed that an unknown number of political prisoners still are detained. The group called for their release and urged the government to allow international monitors to enter prisons to verify the numbers and whereabouts of those still jailed.

Until Friday, some counts put the number of political prisoners to be as high as 1,500, and the exact tally of those released will likely take several days. Suu Kyi's party said it was expecting the release of many of the 600 dissidents it tracks.

"The release of such a large number of political prisoners demonstrates the government's will to solve political problems through political means," said Win Tin, a senior member of Suu Kyi's party who had spent 19 years in prison but was released in a 2008 amnesty. "This amnesty will ease political tension before the upcoming April by-election. The other major problem the government has to seriously tackle now is the issue of ethnic fighting, especially in Kachin state."

The party decided to rejoin electoral politics after the military-backed but elected government took office in March 2011, replacing army rule and tentatively easing years of repression.

Some critics characterized the NLD's decision to rejoin electoral politics as a capitulation after years of resistance to military rule. The party won a 1990 general election but was denied power after the military refused to allow parliament to be seated.

In 2010, the military held another general election, but the NLD found the rules unfair and declined to participate, leading to its being purged from the list of legal political parties.

Critics fear the NLD's participation helps the government maintain a veneer of legitimacy for what is actually continued domination of politics by the army.

"I think this year we shall find out whether we are making progress toward democracy," Suu Kyi said in an interview with The Associated Press last week, adding that benchmarks to consider are "the release of all political prisoners, ... how the by-elections are conducted,... how much more freedom of information is allowed and whether strong steps are taken to establish the rule of law."

Among those released Friday was Min Ko Naing, a prominent student leader from the failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

Cheers and applause erupted outside the Thayet prison, 545 kilometers (345 miles) north of Yangon, where a huge crowd gathered to see the charismatic activist, who was serving a 65-year sentence.